Site for Vintage

Thanks to a message from a fellow vintage seller, I found a cool website, called VintageGazer. It is a curated photo gallery on the order of Pinterest, but strictly for vintage things, which is very exciting for us vintage types. Not only can items from vintage shops be listed, but there are antique photographs and ads posted also. Anything vintage or antique may be posted, but the photos need to be appealingly clear and crisp and there has to be some content as well.

 

My friend at ElsiesAttic posted this beautiful ring

Another acquaintance from the world of vintage, AnotherTimeAntiques posted this gorgeous photo

Then I just posted this (though it needs to be accepted before it will be published)

As I wrote this, I realized all three pictures are of green things--what a funny coincidence!

I'm not sure how long it has been around, but am so glad to have found it. A lot of folks who sell  "old things" have been longing for a site like this. So I'm putting in a good word here and am hoping you'll check it out and spread the word.

Thanksgiving Greetings

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and fun!

 And for those of you who do not celebrate this holiday, have a lovely day!

Autena, Vintage Trinkets and Treasures, on Etsy

Bourbon, Gin, Vodka, or Wine?

Many years ago, an acquaintance of my mother gave her some labels from bottles of various liquors--mostly wine, but also hard liquor, such as bourbon and vodka. Now by some, I don't mean just a little. There were quite a few. She is an artist and works mainly in paper, decoupage, collage, and assemblage and so welcomed the unexpected gift, more or less.

Vermouth

The man apparently had a passion for collecting alcohol labels, over a long period of time. One of his family's businesses was manufacturing whisky and gin, so that must have been a part of the desire.

It took hours, and I do mean hours, for her to sort them into categories, which made it easier when she wanted to find a particular type...red wine or white, Italian or French, and so on. 

Small Labels From the Necks of Wine Bottles

When I started my vintage shop on Etsy, she gave me a few packages of them to try to sell. I broke them down into smaller packs and began to sell some, now and then. Whenever I did, I would let her know. She would say, "Let me know when you want more of them." I didn't really believe she had that many more. Boy, was I wrong! She had what seemed like a million of them--far too many to count.

Spanish & Portuguese Wine

Eventually she decided she did not want them any longer and that I should take them all. I have gradually been putting them up for sale and have had fun deciding what to sell: Kentucky Bourbon, Vermouth, Italian wine, Spanish wine, French Champagne... I have enough to open a second shop selling only these labels!

I'm always curious as to what the buyers do with them, but not wanting to be intrusive, don't ask. My presumption is that they are using them in their artwork, but perhaps they are collectors of some sort, or own a bar. Maybe they want to use them as wallpaper.  After all, we had a half bathroom with decoupaged walls when I was growing up!.

Kentucky Bourbon

Charming Bracelets

As I was re-listing some 1967 newspapers, called The Ocean Press, I decided to re-take some photos. One of them showed an article on charm bracelets, that I found so delightful to read (I love charms bracelets, and most especially charms of all sorts). 

I took some close-ups of it to post here for you to enjoy.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a charm bracelet that lights up!

Christmas in July Sale

There's a Christmas in July Sale going on in my Etsy shop!
10% off everything that is $10.00 and over!
Just put in the coupon code CIJULY at checkout.
You can find books...

jewelry...

things for the home...

toys..

 

 ...even stuff for the guys.

 Offer good through 7/25/13 

If you don't find anything in my shop, just put CIJ in the Etsy search box and find loads of sales in other shops.
You can also head over to The Vintage Village to find even more sales!

Something's Gotta Give

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

After much thought, I have decided to take a break from writing my blog. I can't keep up with everything and something has to go for a while. I appreciate all of my followers, as well as the others who dropped by occasionally. I will, however, continue to follow the blogs I enjoy, so I'll still be around the blogosphere. Special thanks to Kristin, Nadya, and Laurie--keep up your beautiful blogs.

Wordless Wednesday...If You Live in The U.S.,

...don't forget to do this!

(with a few exceptions, of course)

Wordless Wednesday... Cool Building

 

in Nice, France

Wordless Wednesday... Perfume

Molinard Perfume Factory, Grasse, France

Knee Deep

I am knee-deep in tax prep. 

 

Necessary, but what a bore, don't you agree? Well, actually I'm not knee-deep, but my desk is a mess and I am feeling guilty for stopping to write this. But it's related to taxes, isn't it?

I used to be able to do my own taxes, even after things got more complicated by buying a house.

But now it has gotten more complicated because

 I got married a few years ago and...

I own a business!

(Isn't this antique business card fun?)

So if I don't want to end up here,

In case you can't read this, it says
"The Supreme Court of the United States, Washington D.C.
Scenes at the reopening of the income tax cases. Monday May 6, 1895."

I had better get back to those numbers!

Have you done yours yet?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
FROM  Autena

Wordless Wednesday...Save Me a Chair

                                                           Villa Ephrussi-Rothschild, Cap Ferrat, France

The small chairs were used by the dogs that lived in the villa 
and are represented by the statues.

Asian New Year

Wishing all of our Asian friends a Happy New Year!

LovnVintageLaura

Did you know that this is not only a Chinese holiday? It is also celebrated in Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, Tibet, and originally in Japan.

risakofujimoto

It is called the Lunar New Year because it is based on the lunar calendar.

pacificheritagebooks

This is the year of the snake.

BohemianNouveau 

If you've ever wondered what animal you were born under--I am a dragon-- here is a calendar so you can check!

Wordless Wednesday... A Glimpse

...of the Mediterranean Sea
Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France

Winter Antiques in the South of France

Some of you may have noticed that I have been missing in action of late (gee, I hope so, but perhaps not...). Well, I was lucky enough to be able to take a jaunt to the French Riviera for a week-- hubby and I gave ourselves a gift in honor of Christmas, my birthday, and our anniversary. 

We visited the Nice flower market just three blocks from our hotel. 

 

On Mondays, it becomes an antique market. Hooray! We had other plans for that day, so we got up early and popped over to check it out. 

 At 8 AM, it is still dark there and also chilly on an early January morning.

But I took pictures anyway and with the help of some editing to bring some light to them, I want to share them with you.

The dealers appeared to be hard core, old-timers (even the younger ones). My French is spotty at best and I also did not know the proper haggling etiquette, so I was too intimated to even try to buy anything. Not to mention that it all seemed to be rather expensive.

Not only that, but several of the price signs were in francs. France has had euros for 10 years. It's tricky enough to calculate euros into dollars, but francs? Forget it! Even though I did see some small things I really liked, it was too mentally confusing for me.

 Can you see the Mediterranean sea through the arch?

It was fun to be there as daybreak came and the sky lightened.

I wanted to share my favorite piece. I asked the dealer if I could take a picture ( in a kind of sign language with my camera!) and, in the usual French way, he shrugged and turned away from me (I'm part French, so no disrepect intended). I took that as a yes and snapped away, with a flash.

This most amazing necklace was full of beads, coins, and who knows what. Isn't it wonderful? I can't imagine how much it weighs, but it is truly a statement necklace!

We thought the market was only in the morning, as is the flower one. But it went all day and later on, after we finished with our other plans, we returned for another quick look around.

This was taken from the top of some stairs we found. The weather was rather dreary that day.

It was a lot of fun just to look, but I wish I'd been a more intrepid soul. Well, maybe on the next adventure...

Wordless Wednesday...Conversation in Nice

 

Place Massena, Nice France

Click  

That's How the Light Gets In

 to view at night

Wordless Wednesday...Hint Dropper

Fill out and stick in (his) wallet...

They Say Its My Birthday

In honor of my birthday, which is this week, and all of the other readers out there with a January birthday , I am printing the lyrics to a fun song by one of my all-time favorite groups. I tried to embed the music here so you could hear it, but it was too complicated--I'm another year older, ya know?
 (If you have to ask who they are, there is a little hint at the bottom of this page...)

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

I would like you to dance--
Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance
 Birthday
I would like you to dance
Birthday
D-a-a-a-n-c-e

I would like you to dance
Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance
Birthday
I would like you to dance
Birthday
D-a-a-a-n-c-e

 

 You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday

 Happy birthday to you. 

No, it wasn't mine. Wrong year. But look at how much the pinch of salt was! 

Thanks boys!